USAA at No. 11 on Forbes’ 'Best Employers’ list

Three local companies — USAA, H-E-B and Valero Energy — have been named to Forbes’ inaugural list of “America’s Best Employers,” the magazine said in its March 30 issue.

USAA ranked No. 11 on the list and was ranked first among the nation’s insurers in the listing.

“We do our best to empower our employees at USAA so they can create world-class experiences for our members,” USAA Chief Administrative Officer Shon Manasco said. “We are all committed to our mission: serving the military community. This focus on our mission and serving our members brings us together as a team, helping to make USAA a great place to work.”

USAA has more than 27,000 employees, with about two-thirds working in San Antonio, making it one of the city’s largest private employers.

Grocer H-E-B was ranked No. 67 on the Forbes list.

“This year, H-E-B is celebrating 110 years of serving Texas families and communities. Our success simply would not be possible without our amazing partners (employees),” spokeswoman Dya Campos said. “On behalf of our 85,000 partners, H-E-B is honored to be listed as one of the best employers in the nation.”

Refiner Valero Energy Corp. ranked No. 280 on the list.

In a note, Valero CEO Joe Gorder told employees: “We know that Valero is an admirable company and a great place to work. The recognition that we’re receiving from others is a testament to your hard work and dedication, not only in the workplace but also in the communities where we live. I hope that each of you is as proud to be a member of the Valero team as I am.”

Companies could not lobby to be on the list. Forbes partnered with Statista.com, an Internet statistics firm, in querying 20,000 American workers at large U.S. companies, nonprofit institutions such as hospitals, government agencies and U.S. divisions of multinational businesses about their firms.

Employees were asked to rank, on a scale of 0 to 10, how likely would they would be to recommend their employer to someone else. They also were asked how they would rank employers in their industry.

Forbes came up with a list of 500 employers in 25 industries “where the workers like their jobs enough to spread the word,” the magazine said.

Google ranked No. 1 on the list, followed by Costco Wholesale, Marathon Petroleum, The Container Store and L.L. Bean.